James henry mason



J. H. MASON.

ADDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT-23.1915.

1,1 94;,205 Patented Aug. 8, 1,916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. H. MASON.

ADDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT-23,19l5.

Patented Aug. 8, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

a 1: I m/ UNITED STATES PATENT OIiFICE.

J'AMES HENRY MASON, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

ADDING-MACHINE.

Application filed October 23, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES HENRY Mason, citizen of the United States of America, residing at 34 Great St. Helens, in the city and county of London, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in or Relating to Adding-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to adding machines or devices and has more particular reference to the kind in which two toothed counting rings are rotatably and concentrically mounted in a casing, one of the said rings being adapted to be rotated by a pencil or stylus engaging with the teeth on the ring, while the other ring is automatically moved or rotated to the extent of one tooth for every complete revolution of the counting ring which is rotated by the pencll.

The chief object of the present invention is to provide a portable machine of the above kind of a convenient size and shape to enable it to be placed quite close to the figures to be added, so that the user can glance at the figures and the machine practically at the same time, so as to avoid continually moving the eyes first from the figures and then to the adding machine as is usual wlth adding machines hitherto proposed.

According to this invention the counting rings are maintained concentrically in the same plane by means of a member or casing which is in the form of a ringor annular frame thereby imparting a ring-like formation to the device or machine. By making the adding device of ring-like formation it is possible to place the device on the book or a paper bearing the figures to be added so that the figures are positioned within the space circumscribed by the device, and are thus conveniently situated so that the observation of the figures and the operation of the device can be effected practically simul taneously with ease. The said ring-like or annular member or casing comprises upper and lower portions between which the count ing members are held concentrically in the same plane, the said portions being suitably secured together for example by an annular flange or wall disposed between the concentric counting rings. The upper portion of the said ring-like member or casing is provided with an opening at its outer periphery to expose several peripheral teeth on the outer counting ring so that the teeth can be Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 8,1916.

Serial No. 57,446.

engaged by a pencil to rotate the counting ring; a radial aperture (or apertures) is provided close to the said peripheral opening in the casing through which aperture the sum or total of the added numbers can be observed.

The counting rings are provided with pro jections or other equivalent devices by means of which the rings can be readily set tovzero or to any desired number and for the purpose of facilitating this operation the front or upper portion of the ring-like casing is suitably numbered. Improved means are also provided for enabling the inner counting ring to be rotated to the extent of one tooth for every complete revolution of the outer counting member. Means may be provided for guiding the pencil or stylus into engagement with the exposed teeth on the outer counting ring to enable the device to be operated quickly and accurately. The keyboard may also be especially arranged to facilitate the operation of the device.

In order that the said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into efiect, I will proceed to describe the same more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front view of one form of the improved device. Fig. 2 is a similar View to Fig. 1 showing the upper part of the casing removed. Figs. 3 and 4: are fragmentary cross sectional views of the machine taken on the lines and el4; of Fig. 2 respectively showing in two different positions the automatic means for moving the second counting ring. Fig. 5 is similar to Fig. 2 but illustrates a fragmentary view of a modification. Fig. 6 is a fragmentary front view showing the aforesaid guiding means and the modified keyboard and Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional perspective View taken on the line m0c of Fig. 6.

In the example shown the counting rings 1 and 8 are concentrically and rotatably mounted in the annular casing 2 which comprises upper and lower portions 2 and 2, the said counting rings being separated by a narrow annular wall or flange 5 which also serves to connect the upper and lower portions of the casing together. The upper portion 2 has a peripheral opening 3 to expose teeth 6 or the like on the outer periphery of the counting ring 1 and radial apertures t and 10 are provided in the easing, through which. apertures consecutive ing rings can be successively exposed by rotating the said rings. Teeth or projections inner counting ring 8; there are one hundred teeth on arch counting ring and the conin close proximity to the teeth on each ring. on the casing is large enough to expose several (say 111116 or twelve) ot the teeth (5 on the ring 1 and the of opening may be marked with the numbers 1 to 9 (or more if desired) so as to consti- The counting ring 1 indicates units and and the counting ring 8 indicatcs hundreds. and thousands so that the maxinuun total which can be obtained by ll'hen it is desired to add several numbers or units a pencil or stylus is placed in oral opening 0 on the counting ring adiacent to the numthe unit to be added; the ring 1. is then rotated or moved by the pencil until the latter peripheral V pening 3 or any other suitable stop; as a result of this rotary movement icing aperture t prior to the rotary movement of the counting ring is increased by example, it 00 is seen in the aperture l and the unit 9 is the first ot the figures to be corresponding to the number 9 on the keyboard and is then moved until stopped as tated to the extent oi 9 tee h and the munbcr J is then visible through the totalizing or unit to be added 13 the. pencil is placed against the tooth adpicent to the number 3 board and the pencil is again moved as be ripheral openin 3 so that the counting ring is further rotated to the extent ot three the aperture t in the casing. In this way numbers up to a total of 99 can be rapidly In order to automatically rotate the counting rmg S to the extent of one tooth when may be provided which at the requisite time engages with the teeth on the counting ring the movement of the counting ring 1 from 99 to 00 can be accompanied by a. movement numbers UU01O2, etc, to 99 on the count- 9 are provided on the outer periphery of the secutive numbers on each ring are situated 1.; A- l iml v i 0' e i .c pciipncia opcnin 0 face the casing adjacent to the said tute the key-board oi the device.

tens up to i a the said rings is 999?).

the pcripl against the tooth her on the keyboard which corresponds to comes in contact with the end 7 of the said the number which was visible in the totalthenumber which has been added. For

added. the pencil is placed against the tooth aforesaid. Thus the counting ring is roapcrture t in the cover It the uext figure in. the peripheral opening 5) on the hey- ,tore until stopped by the end 7 of the pe teeth to show the sum or total 12 through added.

required an appropriate actuating device 8 and moves it to the required extent so that of the counting ring 8 to indicate the presence of one hundred or a change in the hun dreds it the sum total which visible tirough the totalizing ap rtnre exceeds one hundred. The actuating device shown in Fig. 8 comprises a ball ill located in a recess 12 in the counting ring 1 and adapted to move with the la'tii a The said ball ll guided in similarly shaped annular grooves 13 in the upper and lower portions of the casing :2. which grooves are so arranged tha' the ball will be kept outside the artition 5 during the greater part of revolution oi the counting ring 1. A gap 14: is formed in the partition 5 and the grooves 123- are so arranged at this point that the hall is guided at the desired time into engagement with one of the teeth 9 on the counting ring 8 thus causing the latter to be moved to the xtent oli one tooth when is moved.

the counting ring 1 i hown in Fig. 5 c n The arrange! rent :1 also be used tor automatically moving the counting ring 3; in this exampl the said annular flange or partition 5 between the two count ng rings 1 and t may normally retain a spring pawl 15 out of engagement with the second ring 8, but may be formed with a gap 1. 3 o allow the pawl to engage wi h and move the ring 8 to the extent of one tooth at the requisite time.

(hie of the teeth 15 situated adjacent to the numbers 99-00 on the eoimting ring 1 is longer than the other teeth (3 and projects outwardly to enable the counting ring to be quickly set to zero or to any other desired number. For this purpose the outer 'tace ot the cover is provided with consecutive numbers from OOO1. etc, to 99 and by setting the tooth 15" close to any one oi these numbers the corresponding number on the count ing ring 1 will be visible through the aper ture -l-.

The counting ring 8 is provided on its in ternal periphery with a tooth or projection 1t: by means oi which the ring may be readily rotated until the numbers 00 or my do sired number thereon appears in the apcr-' ture 10. The projection or elongated tooth 15 on the counting ring also enables the ring 1 to be quickly set to show in the aperture -lany desired number or figure which is to be carried over from the units column to the tens column and so on. For instance ii? the total of the units column is 562, the unit 2 of the total is noted on a book or pap r and in order to carry over 56 to the next or tens column the ring 1 is then rotated by the tooth 15 until the latter comes opposite to the number 56 on the cover. The number 56 on the counting ring 1 will then show in the aperture l: and the addition of the tens column of figures can be then etlected and in this way the carried over number so is included.

In the modification shown in Figs. 6 and 7 the upper portion of the casing 2 is formed with approximately radial grooves 17 which are numbered to form the keyboard. The pencil can be placed in any one of the grooves and moved along the groove into engagement with the tooth 6 on the counting ring 1 adjacent to the groove in which the pencil was placed. The radial grooves present a larger area for the reception of the pencil when adding thereby facilitating the selection of the numbers on the keyboard and at the same time insuring accuracy. A curved groove 18 is provided near the periphery of the lower portion 2 of the easing under the exposed teeth on the counting ring 1 to constitute a guide for the pencil When etlecting the rotary movement of the counting ring and also to prevent the pencil from slipping out of engagement with the tooth. The keyboard may be divided into two parts, one being marked with the odd numbers and the other with the even numbers (see Fig. 6) and stops 19 and 20 may be provided for the odd and even numbers respectively, for the purpose of limiting the movement of the pencil when efi'ecting the rotation of the counting ring 1. Thus when a pencil is placed opposite numeral 8 on the keyboard, or in fact on any of the even numbers thereof, the pencil may move the ring 1 until it comes into contact with stop 20, while if placed opposite numeral 9 or any uneven number thereof, it may move the ring 1 until it comes into contact with the stop 19. The ultimate result in either case is therefore the same as in the single keyboard type, although the double key board provides for more ready and quick operation in the hands of unskilled persons.

The counting rings being narrow can be concentrically arranged in a small annular space and the casing does not appreciably increase the combined width of the two rings so that the adding device may be made to take the form of a neat and convenient ring of only a lfew inches in diameter, which can be easily carried in the pocket or arranged on a book or sheet containing the figures to be added. The parts may be made in celluloid vulcanite or thin light metal. Of course more than two counting members 01' rings may be provided if desired but two is found to be a convenient number for general use.

WVhat I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. An adding device comprising in combination a casing, a counting ring provided with teeth engageable by a stylus to rotate the ring, the said casing being provided with a key board having upper radially disposed and numbered guiding grooves for the stylus.

2. An adding device comprising a casing composed of upper and lover portions, a counting ring rotatably held between said portions, means on said counting ring which may be engaged by a pencil to rotate the said ring, the upper casing portion being cut away partly along its peripheral edge to form a keyboard and expose the said pencil engaging means, and the lower casing portion having a groove along and below said board and said pencil engaging means to prevent the pencil from accidental displace ment from the said engaging means.

3. An adding device comprising a casing composed of upper and lower portions, a counting ring rotatably held between said portions, means on said counting ring which may be engaged by a pencil to rotate the said ring, the upper casing portion having a numbered keyboard exposing the said pencil engaging means and provided with a pair of spaced pencil stops, and the number of the keyboard being arranged in two separate series, one series in advance of each of said pencil stops, for the purpose described.

1. An adding device comprising in combination a casing; a counting ring rotatably supported in said casing and adapted to be rotated by a pencil, a keyboard on said casing which is divided into two parts to separate the odd and even numbers thereof and,

a stop for each part of the keyboard to limit the movement of the pencil.

In, testimony whereof, I alhX my signature in the presence of two w1tnesses.

JAMES HENRY MASON.

Witnesses 11.0 C. FUNK, An'ri-run P. CORDEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. G. 

